Effect of agroecosystems on seroprevalence of St. Louis encephalitis and West Nile viruses in birds, La Pampa, Argentina, 2017?2019

ANA PAULA MANSILLA; JUAN MANUEL GRANDE; ADRIÁN DIAZ

EMERGING INFECTIOUS DISEASES

CENTERS DISEASE CONTROL

Lugar: Atlanta; Año: 2022 vol. 28 p. 1 - 19

1080-6040

In Argentina, the Pampean Region is almost completely transformed into agroecosystems, with impoverished and highly adaptable biological communities, compared to the communities that inhabited the original grasslands, that could promote the activity of arboviruses such as Saint Louis encephalitis (SLEV) and West Nile (WNV) viruses. In this study, we collected and bled free-ranging birds in 12 agroecosystems to determine their exposure to SLEV and WNV and evaluated the environmental/biological factors potentially associated. A total of 1019 birds were sampled during 2017-2019. We found neutralizing antibodies against SLEV in 60 out of 1019 samples (5.8%) and antibodies against WNV in 21 out of 1019 samples (2.1%). The agricultural area was the best explained the SLEV seroprevalence, with a positive effect, while for WNV no model was conclusive. Our results suggest the Pampean agroecosystems have the environmental and biological factors necessary for the maintenance of re-emerging viruses such as SLEV and WNV.